Hello everyone,
I first saw Mysteries of Time, when I was 11 years old, at Man and His World, in Montreal. It was the ongoing, annual replay of Montréal's Expo 67 (which you will find in the Newsreel section of the archive).
The venue for the 30 or so documentaries by the "Moody Science Institute", was the Sermons from Science Pavillion. This pavillion was also in the 1964-1964 New York World's Fair as well.
After waiting in line for about 15 minutes outside the pavillion, one entered a 300 seat auditorium movie theatre. Each seat had a peculiar "headset" with a switch allowing the viewer to choose the language in which to listen to the movie. It consisted of a plastic tube, linked to a Tupperware bowl with its cover. A hole was cut in the plastic bowl's cover to allow the ear to enter.
While watching the movie, one had to hold that tupperware-bowl contraption to his-ear, set the switch to either of French or English, and sit through a pseudo-scientific documentary with eye-catching and dramatic photography. The "science" was secondary to the Moody Institute. I feel that it was to attract nerds and geeks. The documentary starts talking about time, einstein, and relativity. I love the special effects of travelling near the speed of light. Gradually God is introduced and mixed with the scientific matter, and the documentary becomes more and more moralizing and religious.
At the end of the movie, spectators are invited to place the Tupperware ear-pieces back on their hooks, and to see an eight-minute production, which is strictly religious. The Moody Science Institute seems to be a front for the Moody Bible Institute, some kind of religious organization bent on recruiting the eyeglasses and pocket protector crowd.
I do remember, as an 11 year old kid, in 1970 watching movies like "God of the Atom" that scared the pants off me with the atom bomb blasts. I also remember some people, who came back to see other documentaries, leaving around the 20th minute, when the narator was talking about God.
Other features of the Sermons from Sciences Pavillion were live stage demos by George Speake, the "Man of 1,000,000 volts". This was the crowd pleaser of Expo 67, and Man and His World from 1968 to 1970. This guy would be zapped with 1,000,000 volts, and would survive, thanks to his faith in God. There was also demos about optical illusions by the same guy and chemistry "magic" as well.
This is sure to bring back memories of my childhood when I download a documentary or two.
http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/expo67/map-docs/sermonsinscience.htm
In the link above, you will see a picture of The Sermons from Sciences Pavillion at Expo 67.
If you are curious about the 1967 world's Fair in Montreal, you can click here:
http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/expo67/
Have a nice day,
Georges in Montréal.